


The four victory conditions

by CaptainGlitch



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Close Friendship, F/F, Fluff, Romance, This one was a long time coming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-22 23:19:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14319267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainGlitch/pseuds/CaptainGlitch
Summary: In which Kjelle has to achieve certain conditions to allow Severa to accept her feelings.





	The four victory conditions

1.

“I love you.”

They are alone at the armory when Kjelle decides it's the best moment to say it. And she says it just like that, without any previous warning or notification.

Severa barely blinks. She looks at Kjelle without changing her expression for many unnerving seconds. Kjelle doesn’t know if Severa even heard her or if she’s deciding how to word her disgust.

Truth is, Severa is taking her sweet time to decide if the words she heard from Kjelle are real or even mean what she wants them to mean.

“Good,” she finally says before turning her head back to the sword she’s been polishing.

The worst part of this whole mess is that it’s not a surprising answer. Severa always acts as if everyone should kiss the ground she steps on.

Kjelle wants to grab Severa by the shoulders and force her to give her another answer. She wants to take the piece of metal in the girl’s hands and throw it far, far away so that she can have Severa’s undivided attention. She wants to scream and punch walls but instead she just stands up and leaves the armory, the metal plates of her armor making sharp noises that keep echoing inside Kjelle’s head, filling the silence for several disconcerting seconds.

 

2.

That answer should be enough proof that Severa doesn’t care for Kjelle and Kjelle decides it’s better to just try to get over her fixation with the girl.

They are good friends and Kjelle hopes their friendship survives this small lapse of judgement on her part. It might be hard, but she trusts herself to overcome it just as she has overcome so many things before.

It proves to be very difficult and she gives up a day later after several attempts from Severa to talk to her; to talk _in private_ about Kjelle’s so-called _lapse of judgement_.

So they sit in the deserted barracks and Kjelle waits for Severa while she gathers her thoughts.

The first clear sentence out of Severa’s mouth is an apology. She looks genuinely embarrassed while she reiterates her regret for her poorly worded answer, but doesn’t offer a new reply for Kjelle’s confession. Kjelle decides it’s time for round two.

“I love you.”                                                                                                            

So she says it again.

This time Severa looks at her with her sad eyes but her scowl hides every other feeling in her gaze.

“Prove it!” She demands almost immediately.

Kjelle looks lost. She has no idea what to do and with every second that goes by Severa looks more and more scared. Severa stands up and after hurriedly excusing herself she leaves Kjelle.

Going after her is the only thing in Kjelle’s mind, but Severa is insanely fast and by the time she stands up Severa is nowhere to be found. If Severa wants to be alone Kjelle thinks it’s better to let her be or face the consequences.

Yet Kjelle is way more worried about the strain she’s already putting in her relationship with the girl than anything Severa might do to her if she decides to corner the girl after this.

Either way, Severa’s words ring in Kjelle’s head for days afterwards and she takes them as a challenge.

From that point on, everything she does is a deliberate attempt to prove her love to Severa.

A kiss on the forehead when she wishes her goodnight; getting her fresh cookies from nearby bakeries almost every day; making sure she’s okay after every battle, even after the most insignificant of skirmishes...

She promises herself she won’t say the words again until Severa is ready to accept them or at least till the moment the girl is unable to doubt how genuine Kjelle’s love is for her.

Severa doesn’t react in any particular way to Kjelle’s attentions so the knight has to wonder what exactly is going on inside Severa’s head. Usually the girl has a hard time hiding her true feelings but it’s probably easier to do so when she doesn’t talk at all. The only thing Kjelle can see is the ever-present sadness in her eyes.

 

3.

Kjelle has never been patient to begin with, so Severa shouldn’t be surprised to find herself cornered by Kjelle behind the mess tent some days later. She should actually be surprised by the fact that this didn't happen before.

Even without her armor, Kjelle looks sturdy, with her broad shoulders and bulky arms; utterly intimidating as always, even when she isn’t that much taller than Severa.

“Have you gotten enough proof?” Kjelle asks harshly. She lowers her head afterwards, as if for the first time in her life she is mindful of just how blunt and aggressive she sounds.

“Wha...?” Severa takes some seconds to wonder about the context of the question and Kjelle can see the realization in her gaze the moment her frown softens and only her sad eyes remain as the sole beacon of emotion in her face.

“I’ll say it one more time, Severa,” Kjelle warns; her voice strangely soft and low.

Severa braces herself for the words that might turn upside down her world now that she understands the strength behind them. She even shrinks a bit and hugs her midsection, like a small animal preparing itself to get hit.

 “I love you.”

Severa’s sad eyes widen and shine with a layer of unshed tears.

“Please don’t love me!” She begs right away, lifting her head to look at Kjelle straight in the eye.

Kjelle has never flinched in her life—or so she says—but she’s very close to do it when Severa practically spits the reply in her face.

“Severa, what the hell are you even saying?” She questions, panic barely hidden in her sharp voice.

“L-love is a big deal!” Severa answers with seriousness and her voice trembles with dread Kjelle has never heard in Severa, not even when something terrifying happens in the battlefield.

Severa thinks of her mom who lived and died by her unrequited love. This is not the same but Severa can’t help but exercise caution in the face of the love confession.

“Oh, I get it. You think I’m taking this lightly?” Kjelle laughs harshly, the way she does when she feels insulted.

“N-no.”

Maybe it’s the way Severa’s voice trembles or the unshed tears shining brightly in the corners of her eyes—all the vulnerability in the girl’s posture that makes her look like a small and terrified bunny—because Kjelle feels like a Nosferatu spell just got casted on her, draining her energy, weakening her and making her soften her posture.

“Then what is it? I’ve already told you I love you _three_ times, if you don’t love me just say it already, it insults me that you think I can’t take rejection.” Even if Kjelle says that, she bites her lip and can’t hold Severa’s gaze. Severa knows Kjelle would respect her choices, but rejection would hurt her regardless. Kjelle is not as cold and heartless as she seems.

Regardless of what Kjelle is feeling, she acts as if nothing affects her—her face is always a blank space—, it’s like Severa didn’t even exposed her doubts and fears to the girl and Severa feels this whole thing is unfair. Why can’t she act like Kjelle? Why can’t she pretend she is untroubled too?

More importantly, why is Kjelle assuming Severa doesn’t love her back? Why can’t Severa be as direct and explicit as Kjelle while stating her feelings and concerns?

The fear and confusion in her head move aside leaving the road clear for her misdirected anger to take the lead.

“S-so you just shove this big responsibility in my face and expect me to take it in stride? The answer is not as easy as you make it out to be!” She nearly screams and Kjelle’s jaw tenses.

Talking to Kjelle about complicated feelings is usually a terrible idea. Kjelle doesn’t have the patience to stop and understand something when she can just learn it on the go, but this isn’t something Severa wants to leave unexplained for Kjelle to fill in the blanks. Severa is not done speaking anyway.

“Of course I want to be with you; of course I want to say ‘I love you’ back, but... what if I ruin this? What if you find out you don’t really want to be with me? I know you wouldn’t back down or leave me, but... I don’t want to burden you like that either.” When Severa confesses the last part her whole body deflates as if all the fighting spirit she was faking falls apart at the seams.

The only reaction Kjelle can manage is blinking several times. Her expressions are usually so straight-faced that when a bit of concern shows in her face it manages to make her look startled.

Severa can already tell this is too much for Kjelle to take in, but since Kjelle is still here it means she’s trying her best regardless of how unskilled she may be when it comes to emotions. That warms her heart as much as Kjelle’s awkward declarations of love.

“You’re the first person who has ever showed any remote interest in me... What if I end up hurting you so much you end up hating me? I don’t want to be responsible for that!”

Closing her eyes and hugging herself, Severa can’t really hear when Kjelle sighs. The seconds go by until Kjelle places a tentative hand on Severa’s shoulder but pulls back when she feels Severa tense. Her eyes open a bit too wide and stare at Kjelle incredulously.

“You’re right; this is a big responsibility...” Kjelle admits, not unkindly but her voice sounds rough.

Then Kjelle takes something out of her pocket and presents it to Severa. The girl cannot see the thing clearly because it’s right in front of her eyes and the object itself seems small and blurry.

She takes Kjelle hand between hers and moves it back until her eyes can focus on the object between Kjelle’s fingers.

It’s a ring.

Not just any ring though.

It’s Sully’s ring; at least the one from the Sully from their own timeline, the one that isn’t alive and kicking. The only memento Kjelle has of her deceased mother.

“Love is a big responsibility, but we don’t have to take on it alone, you know?” Kjelle tries to act nonchalant. It works for the first five seconds when Severa thinks Kjelle looks so handsome when she is acting chivalrous and not like a crook. But then Kjelle starts fidgeting with the collar of her shirt and her whole gallant act is broken into shambles.

She still looks beautiful; more so with actual emotions swimming through her eyes.

Then Severa remembers. Kjelle is still waiting for a reaction, any reaction, so she can proceed and ask the question she probably wants to ask. How do this makes her feel? Severa looks into herself for a reply, but there’s no easy way to find it.

There’s hesitation in Severa and Kjelle notices it right away.

“I know it’s my mother’s ring and it feels kinda cheap to reuse it, but I wasn’t planning on making a proposal this soon,” Kjelle isn’t sure if she was going to propose at all. “I’ll get you a new one, the best ring I can afford... you can even choose it yourself... or we can have it custom made…”

Severa has never seen Kjelle talk that much or act so insecure, it’s endearing, kind of. It’s also reassuring to know that even someone like Kjelle can act like a normal human from time to time. Above all, this—the ring—is the one thing she needs to accept that Kjelle might actually love her unconditionally.

“So please, would you... would you let me do this with you?”

There. The question is asked and the only answer bouncing off the walls of Severa’s head is a very enthusiast “yes” or many very embarrassing variations of the same affirmative words.

Instead of offering her hand so that Kjelle can put the ring in her finger and close the deal, Severa reaches for the ring and holds it in a very tight fist. She lets the metal sink into the skin of her palm. It doesn’t hurt much yet it doesn’t allow forgetting there’s a circular chunk of metal between her closed fingers.

She stares at her hand, the hand holding the ring firmly and Kjelle stands there, expectant. There’s this edge on her stance as if she is expecting Severa to throw the ring back at her.

“Can you... say it?” Severa is not sure Kjelle understands. There are a lot of things Kjelle could say to her, but Severa can’t just bring herself to ask for the exact thing.

Kjelle ponders for some seconds before leaning close to Severa. When Kjelle surrounds her with her arms the girl doesn’t flinch or pushes her back but she doesn’t reciprocate either.

Once Severa is as close to Kjelle as a hug can bring her, Kjelle says to Severa’s ear the words the girl wants to hear.

4.

“I love you.”

Suddenly Kjelle feels arms wrapping around her back. A small hand grasps Kjelle’s shoulder, the other –which is still a closed fist—presses firmly into the small of her back.

Kjelle steps back and the complaint Severa wanted to make gets stuck in her throat when Kjelle kisses her.

This doesn’t make the fear go away, but it gives her leverage, it gives her a reason to fight against the fear. Kind of. She’s the sort of person that likes to avoid emotion before she gets too invested. Or at least she tries; even if she fails every time.

But this isn’t something she has to worry about now. This is the anchor she so desperately needs.

More insistent kisses from Kjelle demand her attention but still a very tiny part of her mind finds the time to think about her current situation.

For the first time in days she allows herself to bask in the attention and care Kjelle is willing to bestow on her.

_“Someone loves me...”_

Severa thinks dreamily while reciprocating the kisses with Kjelle, her fingers run through brown locks and when they’re done her hands grab the girl’s face.

_“Kjelle loves me!”_

_“She really does love me!”_

_“I guess it is a big deal, because I love her too.”_

That’s the last thought in Severa’s mind before she completely loses herself in the arms surrounding her waist and the hands latching on her back or the impatient lips caressing her face.

“I love you, Kjelle.”

No other victory would make Kjelle happier.

**Author's Note:**

> I love Kjelle and Severa and had this mighty need to write something for them since like 2 yrs ago when I started playin' Awakening...  
> I always felt like Severa had sad eyes so I kind of wanted to include that in a story but then the story evolved into something completely different. It is weird to think how concepts can change like that.  
> I’ve been planning to write this for almost a year and I’m happy it's finished now (to be fair the last months I was just looking for the perfect title from the list of like 30 tentative titles I had thought, I’m still not sure if it was the best title but I like it).  
> Hope ya enjoyed the ride and be sure to let me know your thoughts! (my tumblr is in my profile if that's more yer thing :P)  
> See ya!


End file.
